The present invention relates generally to hand-held, manually-operated, sanding tools that are used with a sheet of abrasive material such as sandpaper.
Abrasive sheets, such as conventional sandpaper, are commonly used to hand sand or finish a work surface, such as a wooden surface. In hand sanding the user holds the sandpaper directly in his or her hand to move the sandpaper across the work surface. Sanding by hand can, of course, can be an arduous task. To facilitate the hand sanding process, the sandpaper may be placed on a sanding block. Sanding blocks hold the sandpaper and can be more comfortably grasped by the user to make hand sanding faster and easier. A commercially available hand sanding block is the 3M™ Rubber Sanding Block available from 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn.
Conventional sanding blocks are typically rectangular or square and therefore have a square or rectangular sanding surface. These shapes allow them to be used with conventional abrasive sheets, which are also typically available in rectangular or square sheets. While such shapes are well suited for sanding flat open surfaces that are generally free of obstructions, they do not lend themselves to sanding confined or otherwise hard-to-reach areas, such as corners, or sanding around obstructions.
Known sanding blocks also suffer from additional drawbacks or shortcomings. For example, tensioning the abrasive media is a desirable feature of sanding blocks. With known sanding blocks, however, it is often difficult to load the abrasive media and secure it tightly to the block. If the media is not tight, it may wrinkle, and the wrinkles may snag on the work surface and cause the abrasive media to tear. In addition, wrinkles in the abrasive media may cause the work surface to be damaged or sanded unevenly.
Known sanding blocks may also require both ends of the abrasive sheet to be installed on the sanding block simultaneously, which can require considerable dexterity. Known sanding blocks also tend to be difficult and/or expensive to manufacture. In addition, sanding blocks may damage the abrasive sheet as it is installed on the tool, or may not optimally utilize the full sanding area of the abrasive sheet.
Motor driven detail sanders are also known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,571 (Everts et al.), for example, discloses a motor driven oscillating tool for sanding a surface. A variety of motor driven detail sanders are also available commercially. Such power tools, however, are considerably more expensive than manually-operated sanding blocks. In addition, motor driven sanders require abrasive sheets that are custom designed to match the size and shape of the sanding tool. Such power sanders, and the abrasive sheets used with them, also typically come with their own attachment system, such as adhesive or a mechanical attachment system such as hook-and-loop fasteners, so that the abrasive sheet can be securely fastened to the tool. As such, conventional sheet-like abrasive material cannot be used with such power sanders.
There is a need for a hand-held, manually-operated, sanding block that can be used to sand confined areas, such as corners, or sand obstructed areas that cannot be easily sanded using conventional sanding blocks, that uses conventional square or rectangular sheet-like abrasive media, such as sandpaper, and that does not require the abrasive media to have a special attachment system to allow it to be used with the sanding block. There is also a need for such a sanding block that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, that can tension the abrasive sheet, that securely holds the abrasive sheets, is comfortable to use, and allows worn abrasive sheets to be quickly and easily replaced.
It would be desirable to provide a versatile, hand-held, manually-operated sanding tool that can be used for general sanding of flat, open, unobstructed surfaces as well as for detail sanding of confined work surfaces, such as corners. It would also be desirable to provide a hand-held, manually-operated sanding tool that is inexpensive, easy to use, and uses flexible flat sheets of abrasive material, such as conventional sandpaper, as well as resilient flexible abrasive sheets that are thicker than conventional sandpaper, such as the sheet-like abrasive materials described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,113 (Minick et al.), that are generally rectangular or square. In addition, it would be desirable to provide such a sanding tool that can be manufactured easily, is comfortable to use, allows worn sheets to be quickly and easily replaced, and allows sheet-like abrasive materials to be secured tightly to the sanding tool without unnecessary slack and without damaging the abrasive sheet.